Two years ago, Megaupload founder Kim told to with his new neighbours in New Zealand about his bad reputation in the past. But he ensured them that his criminal past was behind him and he was coming to the country with good intentions.

In his email Dotcom wrote: "I am a former hacker who was once convicted of insider trading. In all seriousness: My wife, two kids and myself love New Zealand and We come in peace."'

In New Zealand two years ago Dotcom leased $24 million luxury mansion in Coatesville, near Auckland.

Dotcom sent emails to his neighbours, joking that "a criminal neighbour like me" could help them with insider stock tips and tax fraud. But then he turned serious.

"Fifteen years ago I was a hacker and 10 years ago I was convicted for insider trading," he wrote. "Hardly the kind of crimes you need to start a witch hunt for. Since then I have been a good boy, my criminal records have been cleared, and I created a successful Internet company that employs 100+ people."

Dotcom first developed a reputation as a computer hacker in his native Germany, where he was born Kim Schmitz.Later, in 2002, he received a 20-month suspended sentence after being found guilty of manipulating stock prices to earn himself $1.1 million.

Also Dotcom made headlines after the terrorist attacks of 9/11 when he offered a $10 million reward on his website for information leading to the capture of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.

In New Zealand, Prime Minister John Key faced awkward questions Wednesday about how immigration officials could have granted Dotcom residency despite his prior convictions -- and then the government could later turn down his application to buy the Coatesville mansion due to questions over his character prompted by those same convictions.

Key said Dotcom had disclosed his convictions in his immigration application but that enough time had elapsed to give him a clean slate. Key acknowledged it seemed inconsistent that the test for buying land would be higher than the test for residency.

'Kim Dotcom' - formerly Kim Schmitz - owned a £3million collection of 25 cars which was confiscated at the time of his arrest – mainly top-of-the range Mercedes with number plates such as ‘STONED’, ‘HACKER’ and ‘GUILTY’ but also including Maseratis, a vintage pink Cadillac and Dotcom’s runabout, a £300,000 Rolls-Royce Phantom with the number plate ‘GOD’.